It is difficult, especially in December, to think about Jesus without thinking about his birth. The carols we sing are filled with shepherds and angels and Bethlehem and no crib for a bed. Christmas pageants regularly dress up the toddlers in wooly sheep costumes and have them wander around the stage. Baby Jesus dolls are swaddled. Shepherd crooks are used as light sabers. And even the college kids home from school, who haven’t been in a church for months, love the candle light services on cold silent nights. So do I.
It is hard to imagine that when Mark sat down to write his story of the life of Jesus he didn't refer to the birth story at all (neither did John for that matter). Instead he dives right into Jesus the adult (sorry Ricky Bobby).
Mark’s gospel begins, “The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God.”
And for Mark the beginning of the story of Jesus begins with a quote from Isaiah. It is actually a mash-up of Malachi 3 and Isaiah 40. If you are familiar with Handel’s Messiah, Handel appears to take his cues from Mark and also begins with Isaiah 40.
Mark writes: “As it is written in Isaiah the prophet,
Behold, I send my messenger before your face, who will prepare your way, the voice of one crying in the wilderness: ‘Prepare the way of the Lord, make his paths straight.’”
Isaiah 40 is a passage about hope, “Comfort, Comfort my people” (Is. 40:1) and preparation. A messenger is coming who will prepare the way. And then Mark tells us that John appeared (1:4). Literally it says “John the Baptizer happened.” For Mark, the beginning of the story of Jesus begins with John the Baptist. And John the Baptist is in the wilderness preparing. He dresses like Elijah the prophet in camel’s hair and with a leather belt. He eats strange food, the sweet and crunchy combination of honey and locusts. And he is dunking people in the Jordan River and “proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins” (1:4).
It is significant that he is in the wilderness. Not simply because that is what Isaiah 40 refers to but because the wilderness is not in Judea or Jerusalem. Judea and Jerusalem are the center of the religious establishment. Jerusalem is where the Temple is and where the religious leaders are and John is specifically calling people out into the desert. The renewal happening out at the Jordan River is not coming from the denominational headquarters. For Mark, the beginning of the story of Jesus is rooted in history, hence the Isaiah quote, but unexpected, hence John and the honey dipped locusts in the desert.
John realizes his role. “He preached, saying, ‘After me comes he who is mightier than I, the strap of whose sandals I am not worthy to stoop down and untie. I have baptized you with water, but he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit’” (1:8). John knows he is preparing the people for something better. He knows his baptism isn’t going to stick - the people will only get dirty again. The one who is coming after him, however, is going to baptize with the Holy Spirit.
Then, Mark tells us that Jesus comes out to the Jordan (1:9). This could go in one of two directions for John. Either Jesus could tell everybody that John is as crazy as he looks and they should all go back to Jerusalem or he can identify with John’s ministry. Jesus lets John baptize him. For Mark, the story of Jesus begins with Jesus identifying with John’s renewal movement in the desert. From the very beginning, Jesus identifies with sinners. John’s baptism is a “baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins” ((1:4). Jesus knew no sin (2 Corinthians 5:21). He lived a full human life but was without sin (Hebrews 4:15). Jesus had no need to be washed. In less than ten verses, Mark already has Jesus standing in our place, bearing our sin. He comes out of the water and the heavens rip open. A dove descends and lands on him. God’s voice booms in appreciation (1:10-11).
Mark quickly glances at Jesus’ temptation in the wilderness (1:12-13). And then John is arrested (vs. 14) and Jesus begins his ministry “proclaiming the gospel of God.” His message is simple, “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel” (1:15). The kingdom of God is here. It is in your midst. And to see this kingdom you’re going to have to turn, repent. I remember reading a short article by Mark Buchanan in an old Leadership Journal. Buchanan said that “in the hands of Jesus, repentance is an invitation, not a threat….Jesus’ message is not, “Repent because hell looms close. His message is, ‘Repent, because the kingdom is near.”* The kingdom of God is a totally different reality. It requires a totally different frame of mind. That is why John is out in the desert eating locusts and wearing camel skins. We need to be shaken up to see this kingdom and the King who brings it.
John understands the significance of what he is doing. He knows he is preparing the way for the King who is also the Lord. He knows he is not worthy to untie this King’s sandal straps. He knows that Jesus is coming with real power - Holy Spirit power. But, there is still something that John doesn’t understand fully. John is arrested. While he is in prison he hears about what Jesus is doing. And he is caught off guard. Matthew tells us that John sends messengers to Jesus to ask “are you the one who is to come, or shall we look for another?” (Mt. 11:3). The kingdom wasn’t coming in exactly the way John thought.
John was right about the sandals. John was not worthy to untie the sandals of Jesus’ feet, even though no one born of a woman was greater than John (Mt. 11:11). But, what John couldn’t see yet was that three years after he baptized Jesus in the Jordan, Jesus would have a meal with his disciples. And during that meal, Jesus the King, the Beloved, the one who came out of the water to the thunderous roar of the living God of the universe and on whom the Spirit descended, would get down on his knees and untie the sandals of the filthy feet of the sinful men who would desert him that night. And he would take their feet into his hands and wash them. And the next day he would not just identify with sinners like he did at John’s baptism but he would die on a cross in their stead.
The King we worship washes dirty feet. His kingdom makes no sense in the world in which we live.
The time is fulfilled, and the Kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel.
*You can read the Mark Buchanan article here. https://www.christianitytoday.com/pastors/2010/spring/thykingdomcome.html
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